I've changed my mind....best Lunar scope

[Moonshane]

I have previously referred to my OOUK 12" f5.3 dob as being by far more preferable to my OOUK 6" f11 on the moon but my mind has changed since I finished my equatorial platform which allows tracking at higher magnifications.

Last night looking at the moon was absolutely stunning; it literally made me gasp. I used my Baader Neodymium filter (HIGHLY recommended on the moon instead of a neutral density filter) and along with my 6-3mm Nagler zoom eyepiece, the detail and contrast was truly remarkable.

At the 6mm end (267x) the detail was almost constantly sharp with no wobble at all. Even moving to 5mm (320x) to 3mm (533x!) the detail was sharp intermittently although especially at the 3mm end the image was somewhat darker. I would say it was excellent up to 350x and then went slightly downhill but was still usable.

The tracking platform made the difference I think and as there was very little movement in the mount you could really concentrate on observing. Usually the constant nudging makes this tall and spindly mount wobble a lot and take a few seconds to settle.

I am now converted. If you can get your hands on a slow 6" newt then I'd recommend you do so. My optics are 'better than average' at 1/6 PV minimum optics and HILUX coatings from Orion Optics and I am sure this makes a difference on bright targets but I'd suspect that a 150PL skywatcher tube or the f8 Dob would also deliver great views.

Man am I glad I placed a bid on Ebay, won it for a song and then drove down to Russ, to whom I am eternally grateful, in Southampton. Total cost inc fuel £150!

[johninderby]

Here's to the long focal length dob. My 6" f/8 is outside cooling right now.

Tracking does help you concentrate as constantly nudging the scope distracts you just that little bit but I've found the slo-mo controls on the Skytee 2 help a lot though.

Dare I mention the 110 degree 3.7 SX about to be put to work on the moon.

John

[Moonshane]

NO!! you cannot.

The 3.7 would be about the equivalent of 5mm on my scope. Stunning!

I think on SGL we constantly confirm there's more than one way to skin a cat.

I also have a f8 8.5" mirror set (not sure of the quality) and will be interesting to see what this is like when I can find time to put it into a truss dob.

[Breakintheclouds]

Sounds like you had a great night. I don't know where you're based, but here in Wiltshire the seeing last night was astonishingly good - better than I remember it for viewing the moon in ages, with long periods of barely a shimmer. I've just been out tonight and it's swimming all over the place. So if I were you I'd want to see a few more nights before you definitely decide one scope is better than the other: it might just be due to the unusually good conditions last night!

[F15Rules]

I managed to get my old Pentax J80 achromat F12 out for a short time last night. Utterly spellbinding, still image, barely a quiver. I could only get 166x (6mm Pentax 0.965" ortho in a Tak 1.25" adapter, F=1000mm), but there was absolutely no CA and pin sharp across the (fairly narrow) FOV. Stunning.

Pity we can't get seeing like that more often!

cheers

Dave

[Adamski]

hello,

I have bought a 150pl and i am a meer beginner but i am well happy with it so far. I like to view the moon, especially now when you get to glimpse a bit more every night. I was out earlier before the dark arrived and found it a very good time to view the moon cos it doesn't appear too bright. I used the 25mm ep with a 2x barlow, 96x mag altogether, and held my camcorder to the ep and got some pretty good images, using the zoom on it gave me some very good shots, i can almost touch the moon.yippee.

good views to all.

Adamski

[spaceboy]

Man am I glad I placed a bid on Ebay, won it for a song and then drove down to Russ, to whom I am eternally grateful, in Southampton. Total cost inc fuel £150!

Did I read that right? You got your 6" OO for £150

Glad to hear the EQP is already paying off for you Shane

[Moonshane]

Sounds like you had a great night. I don't know where you're based, but here in Wiltshire the seeing last night was astonishingly good - better than I remember it for viewing the moon in ages, with long periods of barely a shimmer. I've just been out tonight and it's swimming all over the place. So if I were you I'd want to see a few more nights before you definitely decide one scope is better than the other: it might just be due to the unusually good conditions last night!

Based in Manchester. You may well be right of course but the contrast and everything else came together superbly. The moon was also quite high last night which helps of course. Might even flock it and improve things further. the seeing was really excellent on the moon, a bit less so on doubles although Saturn even yielded at about 228x (7mm Baader GO) especially a little later as it rose a bit.

don't get me wrong, I love my 12" too but it's definitely more suited to fainter wider field stuff.

[nightfisher]

and to think that some years ago i gave away my old oo uk 6" newtonian as i considered it to be useless!!!

my riend mark humby turned it into a home made dob and got some good views with it

[John]

Earlier this evening there was a 6" F/8 Skywatcher newtonian OTA for £80 "buy it now". Might be worth a punt ......

Mind you, when the conditions are great, all scopes start to "strut their stuff " - the trouble is that it does not happen often enough

[nicnac]

a TAL 150P8 would be a great bit of kit to use on the moon but having said that, a decent barlow on the 150P does the job just as nice, both have high quality mirrors and FLO have the 150P for £298 brand spanking.

i have thursday and friday off, im hoping for some observation time with the Moon, weather permitting

[Moonshane]

great stuff Nick. many complain about the moon but I love it and can watch for hours either in a targeted way or just 'surfing'.

[nicnac]

ive been in them shoes

here's hoping for continued clear skies

[AndyH]

great stuff Nick. many complain about the moon but I love it and can watch for hours either in a targeted way or just 'surfing'.

Totally agree.

Nothing quite like surfing the terminator.

Andy.

[LMC]

Tch.....

Lucky for some!

Top-notch Newts are very hard to find in Australia. It's even harder, if not impossible to get a long fl planetary

If you can find one , it's either a mind-bogglingly expensive Mak-Newt (shipping charges and VAT add about 60% to the cost) or some DIY job made from a bit of aggy-pipe with a tin-can focuser.

I took a punt on an inexpensive(ish), pre-loved, Intes 715D (genuine 1/9 wave) and am not looking back - except now I want the 8" version!

Seeing permitting, 700x is not unrealistic.

Alas, on average, conditions usually conspire to limit obs to about 400x max and 250-300x is more normal.

Now if one of you is holidaying down here and want's to bring their 8" f12 Newt, I have a space in my south paddock that's perfect!

[beamish]

I took a punt on an inexpensive(ish), pre-loved, Intes 715D (genuine 1/9 wave) and am not looking back

Clearly I'd say the same !

I was surfing the Moon last night and just found myself "Wowing " out aloud- it's not even as if we've never seen it before either !!

[Moonshane]

Tch.....

Lucky for some!

Top-notch Newts are very hard to find in Australia. It's even harder, if not impossible to get a long fl planetary

If you can find one , it's either a mind-bogglingly expensive Mak-Newt (shipping charges and VAT add about 60% to the cost) or some DIY job made from a bit of aggy-pipe with a tin-can focuser.

I took a punt on an inexpensive(ish), pre-loved, Intes 715D (genuine 1/9 wave) and am not looking back - except now I want the 8" version!

Seeing permitting, 700x is not unrealistic.

Alas, on average, conditions usually conspire to limit obs to about 400x max and 250-300x is more normal.

Now if one of you is holidaying down here and want's to bring their 8" f12 Newt, I have a space in my south paddock that's perfect!

we may have the scopes but you have the conditions! shame we are so far apart

[Moonshane]

Clearly I'd say the same !

I was surfing the Moon last night and just found myself "Wowing " out aloud- it's not even as if we've never seen it before either !!

indeedy! the thing about the moon for me is that it constantly changes and although you may have seen the feature before, the chances are the lighting will very a lot.

[LMC]

we may have the scopes but you have the conditions! shame we are so far apart

:mad:Not this year.

Australia is in the grip of a revrse El Nino effect.

Consulting my obs diary (flip, flip, flip etc.), out of the last 320 nights, there have been 27 suitable for viewing, and only 8 that were better than 5/10 all-in.

Currently I am sitting IN a cloud and it is raining at the rate of 1/2" an hour.

If I wasn't on top of a hill, I'd be under water!!

Like my neighbours in the valley - at least I can use my TOA to watch them swim for it.

[Ad Astra]

Another "thumbs-up" for long focal length scopes! I have a 133mm f/12 that is just spectacular on the moon and the planets.

I for one, never tire of the Moon. There is so much to see, right down to the geological level of lava flows, crater wall collapses, rilles, etc.

Our weather has been remarkable poor this spring. The global warming crowd was predicting a "La Nina" this year - cool and dry most of the winter and spring. Instead we had about 170% of normal rainfall in our county this season. I've not had a decent view of Luna in months. The weather waldoes are predicting more poor weather through the week end, but maybe some clear skies next week.

Dan

[Moonshane]

:mad:Not this year.

Australia is in the grip of a revrse El Nino effect.

Consulting my obs diary (flip, flip, flip etc.), out of the last 320 nights, there have been 27 suitable for viewing, and only 8 that were better than 5/10 all-in.

Currently I am sitting IN a cloud and it is raining at the rate of 1/2" an hour.

If I wasn't on top of a hill, I'd be under water!!

Like my neighbours in the valley - at least I can use my TOA to watch them swim for it.

Another "thumbs-up" for long focal length scopes! I have a 133mm f/12 that is just spectacular on the moon and the planets.

I for one, never tire of the Moon. There is so much to see, right down to the geological level of lava flows, crater wall collapses, rilles, etc.

Our weather has been remarkable poor this spring. The global warming crowd was predicting a "La Nina" this year - cool and dry most of the winter and spring. Instead we had about 170% of normal rainfall in our county this season. I've not had a decent view of Luna in months. The weather waldoes are predicting more poor weather through the week end, but maybe some clear skies next week.

Dan

wow, maybe we are not so bad after all in the UK!

[Ad Astra]

wow, maybe we are not so bad after all in the UK!

Yeah, I used to think I lived in the desert... but for the last several months all the nice rocky hills in my area are covered with this strange green stuff... and it's growing!!!

A wet spring is serious trouble for us here - it makes the brush grow like crazy - then when it finally dries out in the fall, we can be in for terrible wildfires. When you up to 100 degrees, and down into the single digits with humidity, and the brush is tinder dry from months of no rain - the result can be explosive.

On the up-side, I did once manage to see some large sun spot groups visually (naked eye!) when viewing the sun through a huge smoke plume.

Dan

[Nexus 6]

some great coments here, I have to also report a very recent new appreciaton of the Moon, conditions, as it has been for a lot of us recently, have been very good. The key for me... 13mm Nagler, what a joy, ok I could bump up the power but its too much to remove it from the diagonal. What a pleasure to scan around the surface, views have been tremendous at times, I am now feeling somewhat more connected with our closest neighbour.

The Lunar 100 has been started, got 1 ....the Moon

ok ...maybe one or two more

I tried for Luna X but as Shane says the light changing makes a lot of difference, to me it appeared as a T, but I knew I was indeed in the right spot having checked and double checked via the forum on the Luna X thread.

I am sure it makes sence to observe it rather than bemoan the light from it as the weeks roll by towards New Moon.

Clear Skies

[LMC]

It never ends!

Today some odd, round, bright yellow object is blocking my view.

I must look it up.......

[Ad Astra]

It never ends!

Today some odd, round, bright yellow object is blocking my view.

I must look it up.......

Amazing! We had it here too, today. But never fear - the big yellow ball goes away in just a few hours, and then you can go out with your telescope again.

(Whenever the yellow ball is in the sky, it is always a good time to rest up between observing sessions )

Dan